Shadow Play
by Clairavance
Summary: Herewith the follow-up fic to Illusion Collides. Julian goes all-out in this one. Just because I like writing Julian hot, passionate and in a rage. Teeheehee :) Reading and reviewing go hand in hand, thank you!
1. Chapter 1

******PROLOGUE**

**_There's a thin line between the light side and the dark side._**

* * *

"Would you like to dance, milady?"

Jenny was wearing a dress of silver silk that glimmered in the bright light from the chandelier. Her hair hung like a gushing fountain of gold around her bare, slender shoulders. She was standing alone, and a little smile touched her lips when she turned at his voice. She slipped her hand into the one he was offering her, and he entwined his fingers gently with hers.

The music was delightful and beautiful, with pure tones that no human could compose nor dream of. They moved together across the polished ochre floor, completely in synch with one another.

"I hope you like the music. I orchestrated it specially for you."

She lifted her head from his shoulder. Her eyes were a vibrant goldy-green that gazed a quiet contentment up at him. He smiled and pulled her closer as they swayed together. He grazed his lips across her shoulder, drinking in the soft glow of her skin. She was radiating happiness. He closed his eyes and nestled his mouth against her warm neck, drawing in her sweet perfume. His fingers tightened around hers.

"I miss you," he murmured against her warm pulse. His grip in her hands turned hard and angry, bruising her delicate fingers like white flower petals. "I've been counting the days since I last had you in my arms...but in the end it doesn't matter. Every moment away from you feels like an eternity."

He spun her out to the side, and she flowed gracefully with the motion. Her smile was wistful, as though she felt as empty as he did. As if she understood him. He frowned at the thought. "But do you?" He slowly drew her back into his arms and buried his face in the softness of her hair. She smelled like lilies, and his chest throbbed with the bittersweet memory.

"It hurts when I think of you," he whispered. "You make me miserable and yet only you can light up my world. Ironic, isn't it?"

"You hurt me," Jenny whispered.

Julian paused, and her body in his arms stopped swaying as well. He exhaled through his nose and scowled. It was his conscience torturing him. The image in his grasp couldn't speak, no matter how much he willed it.

"If you really cared... if you ever did. No. You didn't."

Julian stepped away and turned toward the voice, deep blue eyes feverishly scanning his surroundings. He waved his hand dismissively through Jenny, and she evaporated into mist. The ballroom they'd been dancing in dispersed a second later into thick darkness.

"All you cared about was getting what you wanted," Jenny said tiredly.

There, it came from the left. Julian chased after her voice, his feet skimming across the star speckled black air. His footsteps caused ripples and the world around him blurred. It was rare that Jenny would direct her words and energy toward him like this. It was a loophole that Julian was sure none of his elders had considered a possibility; he could still be summoned. This was the fourth time Jenny had summoned him.

"Oh, Julian," she sighed.

A silver tear in the void. He caught a glimpse of her from a distance; her head was hanging low, her back turned to him where she was kneeling in a white, compact space.

"No, no, no!" Julian cried out in frustration when his last couple of strides brought him to the tear just as it melted into the shadows. He stared at the place furiously, willing it to open the window for him and knowing that it was pointless. He only had access to Earth for as long as Jenny called on him, and she never gave him enough time to reach her. It was always curt, miserable, angry messages she sent his way.

He slumped down onto a floor that didn't exist and despondently stared out at the worlds. He could see all nine of them from here. Floating islands. It was only earth that held his attention. If only he could pierce the veil between the worlds; but that was the trick. He was in the veil somehow. He'd heard horror stories before of walkers getting caught in it - once you were in, you could never get out. But he'd always taken great care when walking between the worlds. He knew the way well. Though he hadn't accidentally strayed from the bridge, he'd been put here by his elder. Limbo is what they called the realm within the veil; where a _nothing_ you could touch and see existed. It was real but it wasn't, like the nightmares he loved to spread. The fear was real albeit the nightmare wasn't. A peculiar, empty place filled with nothing.

Julian had spent a long time trying to free himself, but since he was stuck in nothing there was no way to get out. He couldn't break a nothing because it had no solid wards, and by all means really shouldn't have an entrance at all. He gave up trying to escape because it proved to be absolutely maddening. The emptiness around him had, after some time, seeped into his being. It had chilled his temper and replaced it with loneliness. The only thoughts he had were of Jenny, and the memory of her was like a ray of sunshine in this hollow world.

"Here you are."

Julian felt his stomach twist sickeningly at the unexpected voice. He held himself still, unwilling to show that he'd been caught off guard, and looked up at the deceivingly youthful face staring back down at him. Shadowed gaze locked with icy blue eyes that shot a challenge back at him. He backed down and cast his gaze aside.

"I thought I'd lost you in this place. I forgot just how wide and how far nothingness can stretch," Mikael said, settling down next to him and crossing his legs.

"Why are you here?" Julian asked.

"I thought you might like the company."

Julian blinked slowly at his elder's wit, and grimaced. "I'd rather be torn to shreds by Nidhogg than spend time in your presence."

"You still hate me then," Mikael said good-naturedly.

Julian glanced at him, and incredulity flashed across his face. "Things will never be what they were before, you know," he said, and narrowed is eyes when Mikael looked at him in surprise. "You and I will never regain what we'd lost after that mortal came to sow discord among us."

"Andrea only came because I brought her. You know that," Mikael said, looking away and plucking a star from the ground. He let it go and watched it drift into the air before it blended with the black once more. He puckered his lips when Julian didn't respond. "I meant to scare her off by bringing her home. She was too smart and too stubborn. She wouldn't accept that love wasn't destined for us. I had to show her what I really am."

"And still she loved you," Julian said resentfully.

"She's a crazy fool," Mikael said tightly.

"My journey from the Well of all Being... it blinded me with anger. It was the only thing that was real, all I could hold onto, and it drove me onward. My temper got me out of there. Who'd have thought rage was that powerful," Julian muttered.

Mikael nodded and traced patterns in the black before them. Unlike Julian's touch that only made it ripple like water, Mikael's strokes stayed imbedded like drawing in wet black sand. "When you're reborn, you're made up of the strongest emotion that dominated before your passing. It's not an easy feat to recall who you once were, or to rebuild yourself from memory alone. I'm the only shadow man who has ever managed that...and now you."

"I was angry when I found her," Julian said. "It blinded me from my purpose. I tormented her until she cracked, and then I laughed at her."

"All this time spent here did you good. I'm glad you're rethinking things because you haven't been thinking at all the last time we met."

"I should have taken the stave and banished _you_ to this place."

Mikael shrugged. "Yeah, you should have."

The twirls Julian detachedly made with his fingers caused another legion of waves to ripple across the void. It blurred the lines Mikael had drawn until it was gone and the air was still once more. He tapped his fingers on the floor beside him, and waited. The silence was disturbed by their steady, quiet breathing. In that moment, despite the hard feelings between them, Julian was vaguely relieved that it was Mikael beside him. He'd much rather prefer being trapped with this elder than any of the others. He squealched the memory of their ragged, shallow, noisy, and annoying as hell breathing in his ears a long time ago; caged in such a small space with so many, and the smell of them had been excruciating. He knew their scent, but to be faced with it day after day, every second of every minute... he would have rather been stuck with Mikael than any of the other elders. At least he didn't assault his nostrils.

"I want to make you a deal," Mikael said.

Julian slowly looked at him, non-plussed. Mikael leaned forward and casually gestured as he continued, "I'll let you out of here in return for your help."

"I'm not biting," Julian said curtly.

Mikael continued as if he hadn't heard him. "There are conditions, of course. You are free to roam Midgard to your heart's desire, not permitted to use any magic that will affect mankind, and when you're done helping me," Mikael said with a grave look, "I never want to see your face again."

The younger shadow man was shaking his head iritably. "I'd rather go back home."

"To the Shadow World?" Mikael snorted incredulously. "How stupid do you think I am?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"Kid, I'm giving you the chance to redeem yourself with goldie-locks."

Julian narrowed his eyes and spoke in icy disdain, "You are _pathetic._ Even Summer has a higher IQ than you do. After all I've put Jenny through-" He stopped at the sharp, unexpected ache her name evoked.

"She turned out better for it," Mikael said, frowning.

"And she'll be strong enough to slam the door in my face," Julian shook his head. "No, she's made it pretty clear that she doesn't want me."

"Uh-huh. Even though Tom is a dick and Jenny left him because he's a dick?"

Julian arched an eyebrow. "Don't play games with me, Mikael."

"I'm too old for games," Mikael muttered. "Jenny retained her memories. The others are clueless as to your existence, seeing as Jenny didn't buy any toys from you because you're stuck in the naughty corner until I say otherwise."

"So..." Julian said.

"So the door is open for you, kid."

"It doesn't matter. Jenny hates me."

Mikael moved closer to him and said in a stage-whisper, "Actually she regrets never meeting you in this life. But you didn't hear it from me."

Julian wasn't fooled. He glared at his elder. "She doesn't love me."

"But she does care about you," Mikael said impatiently. "You can fix things with her. If you cut the evil crap and do as she wants, and make an effort to keep her happy, you can still save yourself."

"No."

Mikael climbed to his feet restlessly. "I know you, kid. I know you're truthful when you say you weren't yourself this last round. That's not a problem. I can change her memories to suit."

"You can make her forget what I've done?" Julian asked.

"I can make Jenny believe she's a goose if I willed it," Mikael smirked. He slipped his hands in his pockets and gauged Julian's reaction. "The way back to paradise is paved with good deeds. If you want Jenny, you gotta conform to her expectations. You know what they say. Repent, and thou shall be saved."

"Jenny would be impressed once she figured out I cheated," Julian said sarcastically.

"Withholding information from her is not cheating, it's strategy. Look, the last clear memory she will have of you is the before and after of having your name cut from the stave. You have my word on that."

Julian stared off into the distance, clenching his teeth together. He was unwilling to be associated with Mikael but the temptation to get out was almost as strong as his desire to see Jenny again. Maybe he could work this to his advantage somehow.

"C'mon, kid, I can tell you're in," Mikael said, giving him an unpleasant thump on the back. "Let's trash this place and go to hell."

* * *

**A/N: Revised 28/09/2012. **


	2. Chapter 2

'_**Cause I want nothing more than to sit outside heaven's door and listen to you breathing**_

* * *

Julian crossed the stark white floor from the entrance of the bachelor pad, casting a quick piercing blue glance about to sum up the space that would be his home for the next few days. Off-white walls, mostly bare save for a few abstract portraits; a creamy leather corner-lounge suite with a wolfskin rug; a small, round, aliminium and glass dining set beyond that on a slightly raised platform, and glass panels all along that wall overlooking the middle of a busy, grey and miserable Vista Grande. A kitchenette with a bar fridge was directly to his right, and a sliding door in the lounge was open, a breeze bellowing past the heavy curtains, leading out onto a black iron-fenced balcony with an even drearier view of a business building right behind the block of apartments. The pad was open plan, small and void of any clutter, giving it a surprisingly clean and rich, and homely feel.

"Like it?" Mikael asked, in tones that indicated he didn't care for an answer. "The rent's been paid for the next six months. It's yours, free of hassle. Until I want it back, I mean."

Julian came to a halt at the glass panels to peer at the traffic flow below. He swallowed a sigh and scowled softly. "Where's Andrea in this mess?" He wasn't referring to the chaos outside, but rather the situation at hand.

Mikael let out his breath when he joined Julian's side, and shrugged wistfully as he shoved a can of beer into his chest. "She's toy number x of a thousand. What does it matter where she's in this?"

"You can't expect me to win if I don't know everything," Julian said, turning the can around with long slender fingers as he studied it without interest. "What is this?"

"Welcome to the world of man," Mikael sniffed, tapping his drink against Julian's.

"I'll skip the welcoming gift."

Mikael was about to take a swig of his, but paused to give the younger man a small smirk. "You'll become dependent on this stuff sooner or later. Take it from somebody who knows."

Julian gave him a sideways look. "Where is Anny in this game?" he asked again. When he recognised evasion flicker across Mikael's face, Julian turned to face him squarely. A long moment passed where they stared at one another.

"She's one of the main players," Mikael finally cracked, and his face twisted as he said it. "I always told her that knowledge is power, and there are things out there that will kill for that power."

Julian licked his lips and glanced down at his beer. He was being too vague. That was out of character for his elder. Mikael was always all about the details. He lifted his gaze dangerously to his elder. He tilted his head slightly, and his dark blue eyes narrowed. "Whatever is going on has got to do with me, doesn't it? That's why you dragged me out of Limbo."

"I don't know how you've come to that con-"

"You won't get your hands dirty if it concerns someone other than yourself," Julian cut in, and Mikael fell silent. "So you get someone else to come deal with it for you. What is the game and what are the stakes. That's all I need to know. And don't be vague."

"There's this kid. All the gods and goddesses know about it. The only human who knows where it is, is Andrea. That puts her in a very precarious place," Mikael shrugged when Julian arched an expectant eyebrow at him. "I would have her here with me, but our kind got involved and...well, Anny thinks I cheated on her, so she kicked me out, got a restraining order against me, and put up wards to keep me out of our house."

"Wards can keep you out? I thought we were above and beyond the runes by now," Julian said.

"No, but that damn wolf of hers is fucking terrifying. It tried to eat me the last time I sneaked in through the window," Mikael said with a disconcerted look. "I'm not used to being hunted, y'know, I've always been right at the top of the foodchain."

"So what do you want me to do about Andrea? Plead your innocence?" Julian said scathingly.

"No," Mikael said, alarmed. "She apparently saw me cheat with her own eyes. According to her, and several other witnesses, we exchanged very heated words. She won't accept that it was one of the others wearing my face and my voice. If you try to convince her it wasn't me, you'll be on the outskirts too, and that wolf of hers has anger management issues."

Julian folded his arms across his chest and leaned back against the glass, observing Mikael carefully. He looked frazzled around the edges. Surely the being in front of him now resembled more of a human being than the shadow elder he'd always known - and loathed. It was amusing to see him come undone. The great Mikael.

"What I want from you is to protect Andrea. Get her out of their Hot and Cold game."

"Hot and Cold?"

"They're moving her around. Reading her dreams, gauging her reaction to see how close they are to what they want. Right now they're a little too warm for comfort."

"You want me to play hide-and-seek with the elders, or a treasure hunt, is that what you're saying?"

"I want you to hide their main player so the game is lost by default," Mikael said grimly.

"That's not very sporting."

"I've never been one for sportsmanship."

They exchanged conflicting looks; Mikael with a non-chalant grin, Julian with total disdain.

"What is so special about this kid that has our kind chasing after it anyway?" Julian broke the tense, unstable moment.

Mikael drew in a long sniff, and appeared braced. "It's got power."

Julian waited for the undoubtedly dramatic climax to come, but it seemed that Mikael wasn't prepared to elaborate. "That's it?"

"They'll want it to be sacrificed to them. Influence its carers into the right direction, implement the idea in their heads that they want an easier life and that the way to get it is through the sacrifice of the child."

"You've gone soft," Julian remarked. "I thought you loved to hate."

"That hasn't changed," Mikael said and his eyes flashed like ice in the glare of the sun. His reasonable tone changed into a nasty, venomous one that was a lot more familiar to Julian. "When time was reversed, I took Jenny. I kept her under my watch for a very long time."

Julian's face turned cold and hard. He felt something dangerous stir inside of him. His fists clenched and he stiffened.

"I had no choice, you see," Mikael continued, spitting the words out with fiery emphasis. "Some rebellious kid _screwed up_, and I had to intervene to save a race of hairless monkeys and protect my own kind. I would have killed that baby if it wasn't for the fact that Andrea would have hated me for it. Its existence predicts disaster for one and all. Its presence could so, so, _so_ easily break the balance between the worlds. Why do you think _everyone_ knows about it, kid?"

Nonsense. Mikael was talking gibberish. Hairless monkeys and killing babies and total disaster... the only thing he'd said that made any sense in his mind were the words_ Andrea_ and _hate_. Julian could bet this was all part of some game Mikael had created."What do you mean you kept Jenny?" Julian asked, getting them back on topic.

"The same way you kept Summer. She was asleep most of the time, and came out with no memory of any of it after. She thinks she walked from the prop scene of Tom stabbing you, straight into the twilight scene of walking up to her house on Tom's birthday."

"But what did you keep her for?" Julian asked.

"To protect her...or hide her, whichever suits your view best," Mikael said and grunted at Julian's blank expression. "Because of the baby."

"What?" Julian snapped in frustration.

"Baby. Y'know," Mikael said and motioned with his arms, "those things that women carry in their bellies?"

Julian shook his head. Insanity. The guy had to be crazy.

Mikael pursed his lips together and cracked his knuckles. "Alright. There's no easy way to say this but...you knocked up your girlfriend."

"I thought you were bluffing when you told me Jenny was pregnant," Julian said suspiciously.

"I wouldn't joke about that," Mikael scowled.

"Well, you _do_ do extremely stupid things when you're backed into a corner, and I basically had you right where I wanted you. I thought it was a farce to get Andrea back."

"True," Mikael admitted. "I should have ripped it out of her when I had the chance, it was stupid of me not to have done it. But like I said, Andrea would have hated me for it. Now, do you understand when I say I want you to remove her from this game and protect her? No games, kid, just business."

"But time rewound. If time rewound, and all that was done has been undone, how could there be any child? It wouldn't exist. It's not logical."

"What do you think I mean when I say its got power?" Mikael said and tipped his head back to gulp down the contents of his can. Julian watched him, vaguely dismayed and unnerved by Mikael's semi-serious laidback attitude. Mikael crushed the empty can and let out a belch that reeked of sweet decay and almonds. "If the celestial forces of the universe don't have any effect on it, then magic wouldn't either. It's untouchable. Power like that is raw and if it isn't tamed, it can be very, very...well, bad."

Julian ran a hand roughly through his hair and glared out the window. There was a long, heavy silence permeating the room. He should have known. He should have thought. But he hadn't - that was the problem. He'd known there would be consequences to his actions, of course he'd known, how could he not, being what he is? He'd always been good at predicting the outcome.

Then where did he miscalculate this?

"I am one of the oldest," Mikael said, and he looked suddenly very tired. "I was around before these monkeys - these humans - were created. I'm one of those who had_ been _the darkness that had owned the universe before light and day was brought to separate domains. I was one of those who scaped the territory of Niflheim. I created the stave of life from my own blood and bones. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Julian glanced at him wearily in response.

"_Never_," Mikael said slowly,"in all of my life have I seen power of this magnitude born into the human race. It's not natural. It's _wrong_. Our kind are habitually destructive, hence why we're so to speak locked out of the other worlds. But humans are equally destructive. It does not make for a good combination, Julian. Long ago when the two species merged to create a new race, God drowned the world to be rid of it. And that's saying something, don't you think?"

Julian let out a long breath and nodded. "Where is Jenny?"

Mikael puckered his lips and glanced aside. "Downstairs."

Julian's eyes darted toward the floor and then back up to his elder. "Downstairs?"

"I thought you might like to keep an eye on her, too. She doesn't know you're here, and she can't know. You'll need to disguise yourself."

He didn't know what to say. He stared back at Mikael, who returned him with an indifferent look before turning and making his way to the front door.

"A cleaning lady comes in every Monday morning. There's an inner courtyard beyond the front lobby of this place - it's got a pool and stuff. Jenny likes to hang out there a lot. The occupants of this apartment block get together for barbeques on Saturdays there too. So keep up appearances, get the job done, and you may have your reward, kid," Mikael said over his shoulder and tossed his empty, crushed can onto the kitchen counter. He turned and flashed a grin back at him at the door. "Oh, and Jenny takes her trash out on Tuesday nights."

With a smug wink, Mikael closed the door, and Julian was left standing alone in the bachelor pad.

* * *

**A/N: Revised 28/09/2012.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Please re-read previous chapters as both have been revised. Thank you :)**

* * *

_**Give me reason to wash this memory clean,  
Give me reason to fill this hole, connect the space between,  
Let it be enough to reach the truth that lies across this new divide.**_

* * *

Jenny was older, slightly rounder than the slender frame he remembered, but she was as beautiful and captivating as the first time he laid eyes on her. There was still that unmistakable glow about her, that odd magnetic pull she had on him was as strong as ever.

Her golden locks were cropped short and she was dressed in cut off shorts and a baggy black hoodie with _Rebel Sports_ emblazed across the front Not her usual choice of attire, Julian noted with sly gaze, and leaned his weight against one of the many balconies overlooking the apartment's central garden. She was curled up in the shadows of the courtyard, flattened against the rough beige wall, engrossed in a book that looked like it was falling apart.

It looked like she was trying to hide, and in all respects she seemed to be pulling it off. At least, none of the other residents playing volley ball in the pool or basking in the sun seemed to be aware of her presence, but to Julian she was like a blazing light.

He had spent some of the day trying to trace where Mikael had disappeared to, once his thoughts about seeing Jenny again had cleared and he remembered what he was meant to be doing. He had no clue where to find Andrea, or where to start looking. That had been Anny's talent, an annoying one – she knew how to evade the shadow men. Lead them on wild goose chases, deceive them, lure them into traps; Andrea had always been a good player, infuriatingly so as she'd been taught and trained by Mikael himself, which concluded why Julian was unable to track down either of them so far.

Then again, if Mikael was worried that the elders were getting too warm about her whereabouts, it should give Julian a chance to find her first. He'd come outside, unsure why he'd been lured from the confines of the batch again, and happened to spot Jenny down below.

Julian wasn't sure exactly how long he'd been standing there, watching her reading. It could have been a minute, or hours even, he lost track of time when it came to her. There was something very different, aside from her new style, that he had unconsciously been trying to put his finger on. It nagged for his attention, but he couldn't define it.

She still looked like a ray of sunshine. She still had that warmth about her. She was still Jenny.

She looked up, straight at him. As if she'd known he was there all along. Her eyebrows arched in momentary surprise. The next moment, Jenny was across the courtyard and her footsteps echoed up toward him from the stairwell behind him.

Shit.

He morphed his shape, changing his features into something he knew resembled him in no way. A cigarette appeared between his fingers, burning and puffing, and he leaned back against the balcony as Jenny's blonde head appeared from the dim stairwell.

Her pace barely slacked down at the sight of him, and she paused right across from him with her arms folded. She looked over the edge of the balcony pointedly before turning her pine green eyes to him.

"You smoke now?" she asked scathingly.

Julian looked at the cigarette in his hand and was about to put on a blasé performance when she snatched it from his fingers and crushed it beneath her heel.

"So ol' Mikael let you out of your cage, I see," Jenny said, and frowned. "I like the real you better than the fake one."

He caved. He didn't know why he did, maybe because it was Jenny and she was talking to him, or maybe he was just too tired to trick her again, but he changed back. There was no fear or intrigue on her face; in fact, she looked close to bored, tapping her foot on the terracotta tiled floor, her head turned as she squinted at the pool below.

"Why are you here, Julian?" She sounded unhappy. Very unhappy.

"To find Andrea."

Jenny paused, and then let out a long, deep breath. "Right, right. Of course. Because?"

"She has something of mine," Julian said tightly.

Jenny let out another long breath. "Okay. Come with me."

"What?" Julian bit the word off, taken aback at her directness.

Jenny started toward the stairs and coaxed with her finger over her shoulder. "Come with me. I have what you're looking for."

"Wait, what?" Julian repeated, taking a step after her. "You know where Andrea is?"

Jenny groaned, impatient, and spun around to face him. She gestured to herself. "Come on, Julian, do you really think Jenny would let herself go like this? Dress like this? Cut her hair?" She lifted a strand of blonde hair and shook her head at him in dismay. "Where have you been, under a rock?"

Julian stared at her, restraining from gaping at her, and then it hit him.

"Andrea."

"You found me," Anny said with a shrug. "I have what you want, so are you going to come with me or can I keep it?"

"Alright," Julian muttered, distrustfully following her down the stairs to the floor below.

Andrea took him into another apartment, similar to his but decorated in hot pinks and chocolate browns, with underwear and clothes spread all over as if a tornado had blasted through the place.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting company," Anny said, "Wait here, I'll be right back."

Julian didn't wait. He followed her down a narrow corridor and stopped in the doorway to a bedroom that smelled of morning breath and perfume. A large black wolf unfurled itself from the unmade bed and wagged its bushy tail at the sight of him. Julian recognised it instantly.

"There you go. Take him, he's yours."

"Now, wait a minute," Julian said angrily, glancing from the wolf to Andrea's expectant gaze. "Mikael told me that Jenny was staying here…"

"Did he also tell you about how good the security is here?" Andrea asked, scratching the wolf's head playfully.

"This isn't funny."

"Oh, I don't know, I think if you saw the look on Mikael's face when Pup here chased him out the last time…" Andrea said with a smile.

Julian moved closer to her, shaking his head. "Is this a trick?"

Andrea swallowed, her eyes darting from him to the wolf uncertainly. "What?"

"Are you just messing with me? Is this some kind of payback joke?"

"Um-" Andrea widened her eyes at the wolf beside her, as if it would somehow clear up her confusion. "What are you-"

"Why did I think you were Jenny?" Julian asked, breathless, all the while inching nearer to her. "You have her glow, and her voice and her eyes..."

"Wishful thinking, maybe?" Andrea snorted, avoiding his inquisitive gaze.

"…But when you speak it's all Andrea," Julian said, scowling, "What have you done with my Jenny?"

"Maybe you should go back to the crazy place, Julian. Take your wolf and go, you're kinda freaking me out," Andrea said, rolling off on the far side of the bed to cross the room to her dresser.

"Then where is she?" Julian asked.

"Jenny? I wouldn't know, we haven't met in this lifetime."

Julian stared at Andrea in silent horror. He knew all the dangers that had been lurking in this world, things that were out to hurt Jenny; he'd protected her from all of it before. But he hadn't been there this time.

Andrea was talking but none of her words were finding foothold in his mind. He could see her mouth moving, hear her voice like a distant slur beyond the terrifying ringing in his ears. But Jenny- what about…

"Julian? Hellooo," Andrea said and did a little wave with her hands. "Are you even here?"

He blinked at the way her voice wavered, and snapped his attention back to the main issue that seemed to have caused Mikael a problem. "Anny, where is the child?"

"The what?"

"My kid. Jenny's. You're hiding it. Mikael said you're hiding it. Give me a hint where I can find it."

Andrea shrugged helplessly. "Excuse me? Since when do you believe anything Mikael says? The guy is a liar and a cheat."

To hell with Andrea. If he could find the kid, he could take it, hide it, kill it, whatever he had to do to get it out of the picture – and then he could go find Jenny. It would lure his elders away from Andrea and focus the attention on him. Anything made could be unmade, anything born could die. Get rid of this hindrance. Game over.

He needed to find Jenny.

"So I heard," Julian said, giving Andrea a grim, frustrated look. "He also said that you were hiding something that belongs to me."

"I'm not hiding your pet, he's right there," Andrea quipped, indicating the wolf lying stretched across the ivory bedding like a streak of unreal, impossibly black paint.

Julian glanced at the Lurker, an idea taking shape in his head as he studied his old pet. Funny how his creations used to freak Andrea out – because she knew how he'd created them – yet now she was ridiculously comfortable having it as her own.

Julian slid his hands into his jeans pockets, studying Andrea where she was fussing with her makeup at the mirror. He watched her paint her lips a seductive red; caught himself wishing he could kiss them and feel their softness. She coloured her eyelids a mixture of amber and smoke that made the gold in her eyes pop like fireworks, which, he realised, had not once looked him right in the eye. He tilted his head to the side, captivated with the unassuming grace in her every movement. She ran a brush through her hair, untangling the strands and leaving it hanging like a wave of honey around her face. Oh, he knew the feel of that thick, silky sunshine through his fingers.

Andrea could never pose as Jenny and fool him. There was a distinct difference between the two – he loved one and not the other.

"If you're waiting for an invitation to join me for tonight's neighbourhood barbeque, you're going to be waiting forever," Andrea said.

Oh, but Jenny could pull off one impressive version of Andrea. She had him fooled. Of course she did. That was her game plan, it seemed.

In one instance, Julian felt a rush of relief that Jenny was right here, safe, alive, and well. Then confusion crashed in. Why would Jenny be pretending to be Andrea if she hadn't retained any memory? It was a farce to keep Andrea safe and hidden, obviously, but why would Jenny-?

Julian grinned. Right. Because Mikael was a liar and a cheat.

"Actually," Julian said slowly, and saw her pause with the brush mid-air. "I'm your neighbour so don't feel flattered if you happen to bump into me tonight."

"What are you talking about?" Jenny snapped.

"You didn't know Mikael had a pad upstairs? It's mine now."

"Whatever! Just take your dog and get out of my home," Jenny said, deflated. Her temper had always been like short summer storms that would drizzle out as fast as they came in.

Julian shrugged. "Come."

Jenny whipped around to watch him head for the door, the wolf trotting behind him obediently. Julian stopped in the doorway of the bedroom and turned to a frazzled Jenny.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"You're actually going to take him?" She asked in disbelief.

"I'm not taking him far. We'll be right upstairs. Feel free to stop by for some_ coffee_." Julian saw the flash of anger prior to her even thinking of hurling the brush across the room at his head. He ducked it by making a swooping bow and flashing her a wolfish smile before disappearing down the hall, the Lurker right on his heel.

* * *

**Footnote: Review if you wish Julian would invite you over for 'coffee'. Teeheehee :)**


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